


Coupon Clippings and Humble Beginnings

by DominoSatcher



Category: One Direction (Band)
Genre: Cute, First Dates, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-09-28
Updated: 2014-09-28
Packaged: 2018-02-19 02:35:10
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,628
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2371325
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DominoSatcher/pseuds/DominoSatcher
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Louis clips coupons to help his family and doesn't have time for curly-haired boys who help him at the market.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Coupon Clippings and Humble Beginnings

Louis suts at the kitchen table staring at the binder - lips pursed, eyebrow quirked. The monstrosity in his hands is splitting at the seams and, consequently, is forcing him to ponder how much farther rock bottom could be. He turns at the crinkled booklet of papers on the table. The top page was warping from something wet which had been on top of it in the bin. If Mrs. Robinson would only surrender the coupon booklets she threw away, he wouldn't be forced to scavenge them from her recycling bin, yet she insists on putting him through this moral quandary each time there's a double coupon event at the local market. 

"Admiring your handiwork?" A gentle hand slips over his shoulders. Louis looks up and meets his mothers gentle eyes, her approving eyes. He looks back to the binder of coupons in front of him and is reminded why he keeps collecting the little vouchers. 

"I don't know if I would call it admiring exactly." He avoids sharing the embarrassing details of how he acquires some of the extra coupons with his family. They look up to Louis for what he does for the family. They call it a talent, say he should be proud of himself. He doesn't agree with them, but he can't stop the couponing. At the end of each of Louis' shopping trips, the girls are always excited to go through the haul and his mother is always on the verge of tears. Louis lets her think she does a good job of hiding it. He doesn't want to see her last wall finally break. 

They had been struggling for some time and Louis tried to help his mother with the finances by getting part time jobs. He worked a few jobs waiting tables and a few retail stores, but had managed to get himself fired at his past three jobs. The combined stress of a mother on the verge of damaging debt and sisters who are very young and have a never ending list of needs caused Louis' fuse to become rather short. It didn't take much to set him over the edge sometimes which in turn sent his sass levels into overdrive. 

His most recent lost job ended with a handful of pink slips which were labeled with a thick check mark in the box labeled "Creates hostile workplace environment." He had snapped at a coworker of his and ended up using information he had overheard from the manager as a way of personally attacking one of the other employees at the store. That employee went on to confront the manager which ended up creating a very dramatic and tear-filled evening. While storming out, Louis revealed to each of his coworkers a list of the other employees who didn't like them and why. He felt guilty about it a few days later, but the damage had been done. He decided he would not list anyone from that job as a reference for any future jobs. 

With each lost job, Louis' guilt multiplied exponentially. Sometimes it seemed like he was so stressed worrying about his family that it kept him on edge. He refused to blame then and always banished those thoughts. He always tried again because he wanted to help his mother and his sisters. He needed to help. When Louis first saw a television show about extreme couponing, he figured that the stories must have been embellished, but his curiosity had been piqued. He began doing bits of research here and there and, after a brief period of trial and error, he managed to get a strong grasp of the concept. Before he knew it, he was walking out of stores with large amounts of goods for pennies on the dollar. 

Louis' couponing savvy drastically turned things around for his family. His mother was able to work fewer hours which gave her more time to spend with the girls. This, in turn, gave Louis more time to himself and reduced the burden he carried in his mind. Everyone was able to breathe a little easier. Everyone was happier. 

"You should be proud of yourself, love. Not many people can pull of the magic you make happen in a market." His mother rubs a gentle circle into his shoulder then steps away to grab a pair of scissors from a drawer in the small kitchen. She sits down at the table across from Louis and begins to clip the coupons out of the booklet resting on the table. 

"Mum," Louis says as he reached forward. His mother moves the papers out of his reach and continues her task with a smile. 

"You should let me help you. It looks like you've done enough already today." She gestures with the scissors towards Louis' fingers. Two of them have plastic bandages wrapped around them. He always wrapped any paper cuts he got in the process of clipping coupons in order to finish off the booklets and keep his binder organized. Coupons were on a time limit and he had to make sure he never missed any of the family's essentials. Organization was, is, and always would be crucial for his system to stay intact. 

"You sure you don't want to spend some more time with the girls?" Louis smiles weakly. He practically feels the bags under his eyes as he tries to crinkle them in order to make his smile appear more genuine, less tired. 

"I want to spend time with all of my children. This includes you Louis Tomlinson and I shall not hear another word about it." She winks at him from across the table and Louis rolls his eyes because he definitely got his sassiness from his mother. He places the binder flat on the kitchen table and leans against the back of his chair. The movement caused the legs of the chair to creak as they adjusted with him.  The legs always swiveled a little when someone moved while sitting in the chair, but none of the chairs had broken yet. He wonders how much of a discount he could get on a replacement set. 

"Thank you, for the help I mean," Louis says. He mother gives him a glance like she's surprised he would even say thanks at all, like he should know that she should be thanking him. He knows exactly how thankful she is every time she blinks away her tears and leaves the room when the girls pull items out of plastic grocery bags while Louis helps them at a slower pace due to the intensity of the long shopping trips. 

The trips to the store always take multiple hours just to make sure that he's gathered all of the items listed on his vouchers, especially if they work in tandem with one another. It always takes some time for the cashier to swipe all of Louis' items and two-thirds of Louis' coupons before the system at the store freezes because of the amount of items input. Then, he has to sit with someone who is capable of adding everything up by hand to enter manually on the computer. His longest shopping trip of record was barely over six hours. He left with three carts of supplies and spent less than £10 for almost £800 of items. It took him almost an hour just to load up his mother's minivan. 

They sit quietly at the table for a while listening to one another breath over the sound of metal slicing the thin paper. Louis finds it relaxing to be able to sit with his mother and do nothing. He enjoys his mothers company, but even just her presence makes him feel less of edge, less panicked about the shopping trip he has planned today. He remembers a time where when he and his mother sat at the kitchen table but her breath was strained and heavy. Any time she spoke felt hurried and urgent. All of her planning wasn't for a bright future, but for the next anticipated crisis. 

His mother's calm demeanor reminds him why he's doing this. Why his fingers sometimes ache with the soreness of multiple paper cuts. He wants to make sure he has everything in order before he leaves because, if things go well, he will use a majority of the coupons in his binder during his trip today and he'll walk out of the store with £1,000 of merchandise for exactly £35.29.

"It's a big day," he says to Jay finally as he opens the binder and flips through the laminate pages. The pages are laminate coverings that one would see over collectibles like baseball cards. He flips through the tops of the papers to count the coupons, each grouped by their matching items and amounts. 

"Do you think he'll be there again?" Jay glances across the table as she continues clipping. Louis knows Jay is referring to the store's assistant manager. It makes heat creep up his neck and stain his skin red. When he has big trips, he always ends up at the same store down the road from their home because they're always willing to honor his coupons during their double coupon events despite how many he brings.

The only reason the store seems to tolerate the amount of coupons he brings or the amount of savings he accrues through their use is because of the curly-haired assistant manager with emerald green eyes. In the past, he has always been the one to assist Louis and his mum when the register inevitably locks up. The boy always sits with him and goes through each of the vouchers by hand to make sure that all of the amounts are entered correctly. He once even caught a mistake Louis managed to overlook which resulted in his trip dropping by another £12.15. 

Louis likes the chats he and the curly-haired boy have when the slips are being tallied, but he would never admit that to his mother. He has to spend so much time every week acquiring and counting his coupons to maintain the level of comfort he's establish for his family that he doesn't have time to be thinking about anything but the coupons.  After all that his mother sacrificed for him and the girls, he reasons that he could sacrifice a little as well. 

"He'll be there. He's the only one who will count the coupons by hand and I know he always works on Tuesdays because that's the day they do their new inventory. It's how I make sure we have access to all of the amounts of things we need for the trip to work." He curves his lips into a smile and tries to ignore the knowing scowl his mother gives him as he redirects his gaze back to the binder in front of him. He knows his mother would never ask him to make his sacrifices, so he tries to make it easier to not ask. 

"You should exchange numbers with him, Loubear." She slides the clipped vouchers across the table and Louis takes them, flips through the pages, and puts the coupons in the appropriate laminate slots as he goes. 

"I'd know when he was working for sure then, so you're probably right." He closes the book as he finishes his task and looks at his mother. He smiles at her, his eyebrows slightly crinkled. He wants the smile to say it's okay, that she doesn't have to worry. 

"You'd also know when he wasn't at work. You'd actually know his name then, too." She smiles and stands from the table. She gets on her knees and hugs her son where he sits while brushing her hand against the back of his head. "Everything you do for us is amazing, love. You deserve a break now and then. And don't for a second think I don't see how he looks at you." 

Louis feels his shoulders tense and hopes his mother is referring to the fond glances he's received when the boy listens to his stories while counting. His mind wanders to an instance where he once thought his mother saw the curly-haired boy staring at Louis while biting his bottom lip. The boy's mind was easily read and stirred up some heat in Louis' abdomen, but his mother had cleared her throat loudly and when he turned he found her holding a mountain of pasta boxes. He hoped that the stack was tall enough to block her vision, but he suspects it may not have been. 

"We should get going," Louis says as he pats his mother on the back to signal her to release him, "They close in six hours and we'll probably be there for four making sure everything is in order and then getting it all settled." 

"Give us a ring when you're done and I'll come by with the car and help pick everything up." His mother lifts herself up and plants a kiss on the top of Louis' head. When she sees his confused expression she taps her finger to the tip of his nose playfully. "It'll give you two a chance to chat. No pressure knowing anyone is waiting or anything of the sort."

Louis opens his mouth to object, but his mother claps a hand over his mouth and shakes her head. His expression softens a bit and his mother removes her hand, then turns to head back towards the living room where the sound of shrill laughter echoes as something hard hits the floor. 

"Thank you," he whispers as she exits. She glances over her shoulder briefly, her eyes crinkled at the edges to accompany the smile she gives him. He hears her calling out to the girls and the sound of more laughter as the girls run around the opposing side of the house to escape her scolding. The twins round the stairway and enter the other side of the kitchen and hold their fingers over their lips to shush Louis from snitching. 

He feels his heart swell with fondness as the girls try to stifle their giggles and disappointment. He grabs his binder and slips his canvas shoes on which rest by the kitchen table. He waves to the girls as he exits the back door and they shriek as their mother rounds the corner, a smile wide on her lips. 

Louis feels guilty as he makes the short walk to the market. His mother is aware of the looks the boy gives him and that they enjoy chatting. He feels like he's lying to his mother, because even though she hasn't asked, he hasn't offered the full truth to his mother. Louis knows the assistant store manager's name is Harry and he knows that he likes indie bands, singing, and cooking, but that information isn't as important when it comes to Louis' willful omission. Harry also asks Louis to go out on a date with him every time Louis goes to the store, even if Louis isn't making a trip large enough to require manual counting of the coupons. Louis says no every time. 

Louis constantly worries about his mother and sister. He fears them not being able to share moments like the one he witnessed as he was leaving. In the past, playful chasing was never an option. When Jay wasn't busy, she was almost always too tired to play with the girls, much less chase them around the house. Louis makes that possible. He wants it to stay a possibility. If he's distracted or worried about a boy, he knows he'll slip up and things could go back to how they were.

When Louis reaches the market and sees the facade of the building, he scowls. He is worried about the trip and disappointed he will have to see the look of Harry's face when he turns him down again. His feet freeze on the pavement outside of the building, so he stands there for several moments looking at the building. As someone exits, he catches sight of Harry helping an elderly woman bag her groceries. He knows it's Harry. He couldn't mistake those curls. 

He waits until Harry follows the elderly woman out to her car and is loading the bags before he hurriedly makes his way to the front of the building and grabs a cart. He frowns for a moment before he realizes the issue his mother caused him by not being present. He'll have to either make multiple trips with one cart at a time or --  

"Louis?" The voice behind him practically dances in between all of the curls and Louis feels green eyes bearing down into the back of his head and -- oh. He sighs as he realizes his mother outwitted him. He clutches the binder of coupons and forces a smile onto his face before turning on his heel to face chocolate curls and emerald eyes. He wants to throw up. 

"H-hey, Harry! What are you doing here? Out here, I mean?" He reaches to set the binder down in one of the carts before turning back to Harry. 

"I was helping Mrs. Robinson with her bags." Harry gestures over his shoulder with his thumb. He rolls his eyes and shakes his head. "She's just not a very pleasant person, but I help everyone. Even if they're unpleasant."

"Does this mean it's possible that I'm equally as awful?" Louis quirks his eyebrow and immediately feels a pang of regret from his quip. Harry's lips spread into a smile as a small laugh escapes him. The dimple on his cheek makes his face appear almost cherubic and makes Louis' inside squirm. He does not enjoy turning Harry down and Harry does not make it any easier. 

Harry glances over at the binder which practically fills the front basket of the cart. Understanding dawns on his face followed by confusion. He looks around for Jay, but realizes she isn't with him. Louis recognizes the confusion and shrugs. 

"She decided to stay behind with the girls today, but it's a rather large trip, so it wasn't the most convenient decision for me..." He scowls at his mother's sneaky way of presenting her plan. She distracted him with the counting portion which drew his focus away from the actual acquisition portion of the trip. 

"I can help you, if you want." Harry's smile is genuine and Louis wonders if Harry is as good of a person as he seems. He figures anyone who can tolerate spending any amount of time with Mrs. Robinson has to be at an above average level of goodness. 

"I'm quite certain you've got more important things to be doing than helping me cart groceries. Don't want you to get sacked and all." Louis hopes his voice sounded more whimsical than nervous. He wants to accept Harry's help and wants to spend extra time with him and really wants to know what those curls feel like when they run between his fingers, but he also wants Harry to leave him alone because that would make the inevitable turn down much easier on both of them. 

"You know exactly what you're here for, right? It shouldn't take that long." Harry smiles. Louis purses his lips and looks back at his binder. Harry furrows his brow when Louis meets his gaze again. "It's a real big trip, then?"

"It'll probably be my personal record." Louis pulls the cart from it's nesting in the long row of carts. He turns it around and grips the handle of the cart which now faces the store entrance. "I'll probably need your help counting the coupons... It'll freeze the machine, no doubt. I already hate asking for you to help with that, but you're the only one who's actually patient enough with me to help, so I can't ask you to help with everything."

"Good thing you didn't ask then," Harry says as he takes off his apron which is printed with the store name and logo. He grabs a cart from the stack, tosses his apron over the handle, and maneuvers it through the open sliding doors into the store. 

Louis follows him as Harry wheels the cart near the small office by the registers. Harry walks in and set his apron down and types a few things into the computer before exiting and locking the office. 

"What was that about?" Louis frowns as he pieces together Harry's actions. 

"I took lunch, that's all. No big deal." Harry grins as Louis flips slowly through his coupon book. Louis wants to fuss at Harry and tell him that he shouldn't take his lunch break just to help Louis cart around groceries, but since he actually needs the help, he remains silent. "And again, you didn't ask. I offered then forced it on you despite you saying no." 

Louis opens his binder to the pages with the recently clipped coupons and verifies that they're sorted left to right in accordance with the aisles at the store. He nods then turns to Harry. 

"We'll go aisle by aisle. Just following my instructions so everything will come out right and everything will work out fine." Harry nods his understanding to Louis then follows as Louis paths his way to the left side of the store. 

The two makes their way to the aisle farthest from the registers and Louis tosses open doors to the freezers as he grabs some of his usual items. He scans the humming boxes in an attempt to find the frozen pizzas, but ends up scowling at them before turning to Harry. 

"Can you show me where these are, mate?"

Harry takes the coupon and eyes them before moving with his cart to a distant freezer and pulling one out of the freezer. Louis shakes his head at Harry who tilts his head in question. 

"Nine more," Louis says and he pushes the other cart toward where the boy is standing. Harry's eyes widen a little as Louis speaks and it makes him surge with embarrassment. Louis' purchases, despite how many times Harry has helped him, still shocks the lad. Without knowing it, Harry makes Louis shrink with shame. 

"Are you sure you need nine?" Harry places the one he grabbed into his cart and tugs the freezer door back open and pulls a stack of pizzas out. "The coupon is only for cheese. That much cheese makes me a bit sick." 

"Well, it's obviously not all for one night," Louis says, rolling his eyes. He can't help but laugh when Harry makes a look as if understanding had only just arrived. This time when he rolls his eyes, he's smiling. 

As they round the corner into one aisle, Harry grabs a bag of sweets off of the shelf on the opposite side from the bread. He holds them out for Louis to examine. 

"Have you ever had these before?" Harry's grin is shadowed by that damn dimple and Louis wants to throw his coupon book into his cart and do some things that would probably get Harry fired despite being on break. Louis settles with shaking his head no. 

"You've got to try one," Harry says and he tears open the bag and plops a round red ball into Louis' hand. Louis opens his mouth to ask Harry what the hell he's doing, but is interrupted by Harry encouraging him, "Go on, try it!" 

Louis obeys and pops the small red sweet into his mouth and is met by a mixture of sweet, sour, and tartness which he cannot say is his taste. He swallows with a wince and watches Harry who tosses a small handful into his mouth and begins chewing happily. Louis finds the way Harry eats to be appropriately indicative of his goofy personality and despite how poorly it would go over at an important dinner, he finds it oddly charming. 

With Harry's help and knowledge of where all the items on Louis' list were, they're able to cut the gathering time down to under an hour and a half, a feat which Louis had never accomplished in the past. With Harry's jokes and enthusiasm, Louis also found himself rolling his eyes much more often than his past trips. He figures he rolled his eyes almost as much as he smiled. 

Louis approaches the register with the two carts which are piled so high the contents are threatening to spill over the sides in all directions. Harry waves him over near the office and continues past the registers with Louis' second cart. He follows behind Harry and watches as Harry slips his apron back on and types in the computer again. Harry holds up a finger to Louis, a question. Louis nods his understanding and waits patiently by his cart while Harry slips the office door shut and grabs the phone receiver. The call is short and when he's done, Harry rounds the desk in the small place and leans against the office door. 

"Now then, how can I help you sir?" Harry winks at Louis. Louis tries to ignore the way the apron calls attention to the horizontal lines of Harry's clavicles. He also tries to ignore the bits of inked skin peeking through the collar of Harry's shirt. He wants to explore underneath Harry's shirt, see what secrets are being hidden by a white shirt and green apron, but Harry calls him back into focus.    "Sir?" 

"You're really going to sit down and count all this out for me now?" Louis frowns at him again. He wants to pinch Harry and tell him to quit being sweet and useful. Or maybe he wants to punch Harry, the feeling isn't clear. He wants to hug Harry for being patient with him and, in his own way, helping him keep his family full of laughter and smiles. He also wants to throw up again. 

"Of course, it's my job, right?" Harry smiles and wheels the second cart to a register on the far end of the row. The other registers around it are closed, so they're able to chat while Harry scans the items into the computer. Louis counts the rows and realizes the next closest open register is four rows down.  "I'll just scan everything and enter all the coupons as a lump sum amount, then copy them all later to clip to the receipt. That's what I usually do with your larger ones." 

"You've got a system worked out around me?" Louis squirms as a feel of embarrassment causes redness to creep up his neck into his cheeks. He definitely does not want to be "Coupon Guy" or whatever the associates or other shoppers would call him. He then thinks that Harry picked the isolated aisle for that exact reason and the redness deepens its hold onto his cheeks.

"It would be a lie if I said I didn't think about you sometimes," Harry says with a wink and a grin, then added, "For the sake of customer service."

Harry stretches his grin as wide as he can and Louis finds himself laughing at how cheesy the face is, his anxiety momentarily forgotten, but his blush intensifying as his mind wanders to what services Louis would like (as Harry's customer, of course). 

"It would also be a lie if I said I didn't think think about going out with you," Harry adds. 

Louis' laugh wanes off and he turns his gaze back to the coupons in his binder. He scowls and blames them before opening his mouth. He pauses for a moment longer and tries to figure out a new way to let Harry down easily, but Harry interjects.

"I know," he says, holding a hand up to halt Louis' objections, "you're busy, you can't really spare the time, the girls need you, I know." 

Louis feels a pang of guilt at just how routine his trips to the market had become. Harry had Louis' routine memorized, a system worked out around his purchases, and a list of the excuses he usually used to turn Harry down. He felt his heart drop as Harry tried to stifle a small sigh. 

"Harry..." 

"No, sorry," Harry shakes his head as he begins to take Louis items and scan them while writing down some numbers on a pad of paper he'd found near the register, "I didn't mean to sigh, I don't want you to feel guilty or anything like that." 

"Harry, I don't want to say no, but..." 

"I know, you do a lot to help your family. That's why they'd be the first ones to understand if you took a night off of clipping duty to have dinner with me." Harry keeps swiping items and writing down numbers. 

Louis remains quiet as he thought back to his conversation with his mother before his trip. He knows that his family wouldn't mind if he had dinner with someone, he was just worried about what that one dinner would morph into in the long term. He is wholly confident that, with Harry, there would not be just dinner. He thinks he could get involved with Harry and tries to convince himself that his heart is racing for another reason besides being terrified. 

"I can't," Louis states flatly, not meeting Harry's eyes. He doesn't continue, he doesn't make an excuse. He stops there and feels his stomach drop as Harry pauses, then begins to pick up Louis' groceries and continue his routine quietly. 

"Why?" After a long silence, Harry finishes his task and leans forward onto the small conveyor belt by the register. 

"I don't think I can." The look in Harry's eyes when Louis meets his gaze finally makes him stop for a moment. He sees worry and concern in Harry's eyes. He knows that it's obvious in his behavior that he's troubled when it comes to Harry, but Harry doesn't seem indignant or angry, just worried about whether Louis is okay. 

"You can, I promise. Say yes." Harry reaches out and takes Louis' hand is his. He gently runs his thumb over the back of Louis' hand and feels Louis' slight quiver under his touch and Louis remains silent, deep in his own thoughts. "Lou?" 

"But what if I can't," Louis says as he surfaces from his thoughts. He doesn't know what he's trying to ask Harry or why he thinks Harry would have the answer, but he has to ask. 

"I think you can do anything, Lou. I mean, look at all of this," Harry says with a smile as he gestured towards the stockpile in between them, " You can do incredible things with coupons, little slips of paper. This blows my mind; it's truly impressive. You can do anything." 

"Harry, I... when?" Louis asks the question weakly, not sure if he can follow up on the agreement he just hinted. 

"Now." Harry leans forward.

Louis' brow crinkles as if he misheard. 

"Wait, what are you -" 

"Right now, now that we've finished this," Harry says with a grin, "They only called me in to assist you and, when we're done, I actually called your mum earlier, so she'll be outside waiting to get the bags. And you can't use your coupons as an excuse since you're using so many today. What do you say?" 

"They called you in for a few hours just to do my purchase?" Louis felt his face becoming red again. 

"I may have asked they call me when you're here," Harry says with a wink, "No one else wants to help and I really want to help, so it works out."

Louis rolls his eyes and laughs nervously as the redness continues to creep from his face to his neck. He looks at the boy who is holding his hand, at the hope in his face. The boy who unknowingly makes him feel shameful about his purchases. The boy who takes his time to help Louis with his purchases and works so hard just to keep Louis' attention. 

"I guess one night wouldn't put me that far behind..." The words come out slowly, as if Louis isn't sure what he's saying is even correct, but Harry's face is threatening to explode into what Louis suspects would be a pure ray of actual sunshine, so he thinks it may have been the right choice. 

Harry finishes Louis' purchase with lightning speed and everything goes exactly according to Louis' original plan. The two bag the items together and collect the bags back into the multiple carts Louis had been using. His mother arrives as Harry claimed she would and helps them load the bags back into her car while trying to contain a mischievous smile. 

Louis asks his mother if she and the girls will be alright without him for a few hours that night and she flatly refuses to take him from the supermarket, leaving him in Harry's care with a scowl as she drives out of the parking lot. 

"Lou!" 

Louis turns as Harry calls his name. He sees Harry standing by a car with his hand holding the passenger seat open. He's eagerly awaiting his opportunity to be a gentleman which makes Louis roll his eyes and smirk, but as he slips into the car past Harry's arm, he feels months of tension slipping from his thoughts. 

The profile of the curly-haired boy in the driver's seat puts him at ease and makes his heart thump loudly in his ears at the same time until Harry reaches over and places his hand on top of Louis as they drive out of the parking lot and toward the city. Louis looks at the larger hand cupping his own and smiles. 

'Maybe just one night,' he thinks. 

**Author's Note:**

> Someone made a prompt about this once so I just did a real quick thing.


End file.
